In California, we saw the aurora borealis

Compared to many other impressive photographs of the geomagnetic storm on May 28, this picture may seem boring. But there is one interesting fact: it was made in California.

“I saw a warning about a magnetic storm at 23:00,” says photographer Dan McBride. – When the K-index reached 7, I left my house and went to the helipad in Big Hill Lookout, west of Lake Tahoe. The radiance was barely discernible, but after the first test shot I realized that I had caught purple poles from California – at a latitude of 38.8 degrees. ”

Polar lights in California are rare and remarkable. They can be observed with the naked eye, usually only a few times in a decade. The May 28 glow was special, also because solar activity is currently tending to a minimum. Although sunspots are scarce, and flashes are weak, this did not prevent a strong geomagnetic storm from erupting. The coronal mass ejection that caused the auroras over California this weekend was thrown to Earth by seemingly insignificant magnetic reorganization in the Sun’s atmosphere.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x